Wednesday, May 27, 2009

And many more to go, of course! The 24th was our one year anniversary as I mentioned, and we were in rainy Hilton Head to celebrate, so forgive my tardiness. I LOVED our wedding - from the planning (lots and lots of planning, mostly at work!), the DIY parts, searching for decorative items, all of the fun events leading up to it with our wonderful friends and family, and of course, the wedding itself. Everything went perfectly - I wouldn't have changed a thing! The weather was beautiful, if not a little hot, and we had so so so much fun! I don't think there was a single person who didn't hit the dance floor at least once! I have a zillion pictures, and I love each of them, so this was hard, but I narrowed it down to post a few on here - forgive the abundance of them. I decided to include mostly decor-type pics, since there are far too many of our family and friends to decide on just a few!! (I might have to dedicate a separate post just to the dancing pictures - priceless!). And last but not least, it was the best day of my life to marry my best friend.

Don't go away gagging just yet....

So without further ado (and in no particular order):

Bridesmaids bouquets

My fam!

Part of the candy/favor table

AMAZING centerpieces! They were exactly what I had pictured!

Roof of the tent - as installed by my lovely fiance and father - along with many other helpers that morning!

Guest book

This is one of my favorite pictures. I love how the veil looks - it was my mom's veil, altered a bit to be shorter, but which was originally sewn by both of my grandmothers for my mom.

Our cake was SOOO good!! (even a year later!)

Also very good, especially since our post-honeymoon selves got the leftovers!

The lane leading up to the house/grounds where we got married - love the maples!

Our fabulous wedding party!

Tony and his fam!

Tony's groomsmen and groomsladies :)

My beautiful bridesmaids!

My sisters xoxo

Church register we signed, even though we weren't technically at the church! A minister I knew growing up came up from South Carolina to officiate - he's the best!

Friday, May 22, 2009

Tony and I are off today for a little anniversary trip to Hilton Head (our one year is on Sunday! time flies!) We went there a few years ago, and it's fits the criteria of 1. having a beach 2. being kinda close 3. having really great bagels

Too bad the weather looks like this for the weekend - not very celebratory or summery:

You know I'm going to force you through a walk down memory lane by rehashing our wedding (again!) but today I have to pack, so I am just going to share some of the first pictures of Tony and I together.

These were taken by our good friends Jenny and Jamie (not sure who!). We all worked together at the lovely Holiday Inn, and I had just started hanging out with them socially the summer after my sophomore year at UGA. They claim it was their efforts that brought us together, but I think it was just the fate of the H.I. Neither of us really realized at the time in these pictures that we liked each other, but Tony totally looks smitten, don't you think? (and, it kinda looks like he's looking at my butt -haha!).

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Our house has been sporting sage-ish green shutters and front door, since, well, probably the 80's. There were many touches to our house that screamed country and dated...which isn't really my style. We've slowly been making improvements on these things (the roof, mantle, front yard, etc).

Brushes in hand, we went after the shutters and the door with some black Behr Exterior paint - and voila! The sleek black offers a lot more pop and doesn't look so dingy. It really wasn't hard at all - and only cost about $25 for the paint (of which, we have a ton leftover, and I've already got other projects in mind for it).

(sorry for the dark pictures - it's been a lovely rain-filled week - we were actually racing to finish this before the rain hit)

However, there are a few tips that would have been helpful for us to actually think about before we started in on the project:

When taking off the shutters - number them or label them somehow. We are essentially lazy and were not interested in remeasuring and rehanging - we didn't even take out the old nails - just popped them back in their original holes. The kicker - we didn't take our laziness into account until after they were all down and mixed up. So it was trial and error X 6 to put them back up...as it was pouring rain...

Be ready to clean up the gunk that has made itself at home behind the shutters - spiders, hornet nests, etc. We weren't expecting to have to clean all that as well!

It really helps to paint them standing up, instead of laying them flat - you can get into the crevices a lot easier, and it's just plain easier for you.

Use a small little brush (we actually found that a 1/2" craft brush worked best) and then a small foam roller for the bigger parts. I also used the foam roller on the door (ours is metal faced) - with mixed results... I don't think I waited long enough between coats, so it's a little patchy looking, but honestly it's really not that bad. Regular rollers used for walls aren't the thing to use here - they will leave little pricks in the paint.

Don't bother taping your door off or taking it off it's hinges. I didn't and it turned out just fine - I was just really careful around the edges (again, a tiny brush helps here). I did get paint all over the glass on the door where the cross hatches are - but a razor blade takes that right off.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

We've lived in Peachtree City for two years now, and there was always something missing from our lives --- a golf cart. We would see happy families cruising down the paths and would look on wistfully. We would see the little parking spaces in front of Target and wish we could park there. We would shamefully ask to borrow Mikey and Kacy's when family and friends came to town...

You just can't take full advantage of the paths on foot.

Well ok, we were fine with not having one, but when the opportunity to get one at a really really great deal presented itself, we just couldn't pass it up! Our neighbor got a new one, and they were willing to give us the neighbor discount on their old one (practically half of what it would cost from someone else!). This baby isn't new - it's a 1996, but hey, it runs - and with a few tweaks will be in perfect order. It's kinda a creeper uphill, but it hits a good 5 mph downhill (or, that's what it feels like, they don't exactly have speedometers...)

We've already found many occasions to use it, and the dogs absolutely love it! Sandy starts this bizarre happy longing whining thing the minute we turn it on, and she doesn't stop the whole way! Roxy stays on it due to the death grip and leash combination we use to keep her stationary...

2. Combine cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, sour cream, warm water, and oil in large bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low for one minute, then stop to scrape the sides (this stuff is really thick!). The mix 2 or 3 minutes more on medium. Once it's well-mixed, fold in the chocolate/pb chips. Pour into the pan and smooth it out with a spatula.

3. Bake for 45 mins (or until it is springy to the touch and pulls back a little from the sides of the pan). Cool on wire rack for 20 mins. Run a knife around the edges of the pan to loosen, then invert onto a plate.